Secrets and Shadows
by WeepingInk
Summary: Katherine is orphan in the year 2101, and her guardians library contains paintings and books that seep into her dreams and make her wonder, Is the world around her truly real? Full summary inside. Bedtime Stories shipping.
1. Prologue

Secrets and Shadows.

Summary: "And above all, never go into the library at night." In the year 2101, Katherine is an orphan with no family, no birth records, and she's three years passed the time when she had the highest chance of adoption. Now at fourteen, she has a scant .5 percent chance of being adopted and is settled into the idea of waiting for the freeing age of eighteen. But four months before she turns fifteen, her dull world of hard work and little freedom has been shattered.  
She's been adopted.  
Pitch Black is the owner and head of Black Industry's, the company that makes 65% of all of the worlds technology and has control over the other 35%, and he has suddenly decided to adopt a ward. Katherine.  
Her new life is strange, with a Level 2 citizenship, an empty house cared for by near-invisible servants, little to no connect with her guardian, and a list of rules she is never to break.  
But when strange paintings and books in the library start to seep into her dreams, she begins to wonder,  
Could the world around her be a lie?

* * *

Prologue: The Infant.

Winter in the mountain based town of Ombra was always bad. Snow fall could reach up to a meter in some places, mostly in the backstreets where unsavory business and the poorest of the poor lived, for there was no sense in wasting manpower and highly expensive machine life on those who were definitely fallen from grace.

However, the winter of 2086 was the worst in a century, with temperatures reaching -29 degrees Celsius on average. Snow was heavily falling two days out of three, and heating systems, even the automated city system, were breaking constantly from the snow piling on it, triggering the automatic external heat cleansing, melting the snow and shutting off the heating wires, only for the water to condense in the cracks and freeze without triggering the heat cleanse. The ice would, eventually, cause the casings of the units to crack and trigger the emergency shut-off to prevent internal damage.

And yet, had it not been for the snow, the babe never would have been found.

Mistress Anya Turner, owner of the modest Turner Orphanage, had been forced to take the Subway to her home, instead of the moving sidewalks termed as the Stick. However, the Sub could only take her within a block of the building, causing her to have to slowly push her way through the wailing wind and piles of snow for over half an hour.

Having finally reached the door, Mistress Turner was just about to key herself in when she heard the snuffle.

Turning slightly to the right, she found a pitiful sight. A rough bundle of slowly dampening blankets containing what appeared to be an hours old baby.

Now, Mistress Turner was by no means a sentimental person. She abhorred baby animals, and not even the cutest puppy-dog face made by the youngest of her charges did anything but disgust her. But this, this was far different.

Picking up the child, she hurried inside. Once inside, she called the rest of the staff to debate about what they would do with the nameless, family-less child.  
Within fifteen minutes, all of the workers were gathered in the kitchen, the warmest part of the house, and had been filled in on what had happened.

"Well, was there a note?" The Baby Matron asked bluntly, and loudly. Matron had few volumes, and all of them were about twelve levels above quiet.

"No," Turner replied, "I hadn't thought to check."

"Well, hurry up lass, we have duties we need to get to."

With a sharp glare in the direction of the Matron, Mistress Turner unwrapped the baby from her wrappings until a note fell out.

It read:

 _Her parents are gone, mother in childbirth and father in storm. I won't last much longer. She was born at Midnight. Her name is Katherine._

"And that's it?" Asked the youngest maid.

"Yes."

"And what will we do with the lass?" Matron asked.

"Simple," Mistress Turner said, "We name her Katherine, set up the papers, and put in the system. With any luck, she'll be adopted around eleven."

"And if she ain't?" The maid asked.

"She'll wait to turn eighteen."

And that was that.


	2. Chapter I

Chapter I: Luck Plays With Loaded Dice.

It had been nearly fifteen years since Katherine had come to the orphanage, bundled in a rough blanket with nothing but her name and age. And it been nearly three since she had failed to be adopted. When she had failed to be adopted, she had been informed that she was pretty much stuck in the system until eighteen, when she would be given the average chance at life that every child got.

But for now, she was still in the orphanage, with the less than pleasant Matrons, the icy Mistress, and dozen or so kids her age. All of whom tended to ignore one another.

Most of the teen aged kids tended to focus on preparing for their eighteenth birthday, studying, researching colleges, and working odd jobs to earn credits. Those that didn't were the ones that were going south.

And all of them had to help by the Matrons by either caring for the younger children or doing chores, depending on what the general attitude of the first Matron who saw you was. Fortunately for her, Katherine smart enough to figure out how to stay good side of the Matrons, she would usually end up working with the kids, which she preferred.

Katherine was studying in her bedroom, having just finished a session with the youngest children, when her wrist port chimed, indicating that that the Orphanage's owner wished to come in.

Keying the door open in response to the virtual 'knock', Katherine called out, "Come…in?"

Mistress Turner knocking at her door was unusual in and of itself, but was even stranger was the person standing behind her.

Most people who came to adopt a child were usually easily placed into a stereotype: Old people, usually couples who were terrible empty-nesters, young married couples who for some reason couldn't have children, a housekeeper trying to find a maid, or some charity nut. The man behind Mistress Turner fit none of these.

Tall, dark haired, pale skin with a slight grey tint that Katherine was pretty sure didn't come from the light streaming through the window, with nose like a hawk's and an intimidating aura.

And Katherine was pretty sure she could recognize him.

"So, this is the girl?" Asked the man.

"Yes," Mistress Turner replied. She had her fingers crossed that this man would choose to adopt the girl. Not out of any preference to the girl, but because if this man were to adopt any child from the orphanage, the people who would decide to adopt would have this orphanage as number one on the list of places to go. And honestly, the orphanage could really use less children. "This is Katherine."

"Hmm," the man hummed absently, before coming over to speak to Katherine, who had stood up, abandoning her Robotics essay.

"Do you know who I am, Katherine?"

Hesitating, Katherine answered,

"You're Pitch Black, owner of Black Industries, the leading company in what's left of the world."

With a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, Pitch Black, for it really was him, replied, "Correct. And you are Katherine, a foundling orphan, sixteen years old, with a high intelligence level but low chance in the world once you leave the system." Mentally, Katherine bristled at his last comment, everyone knew she had hardly any chance after she hit the adult world to do much more then survive, there was no need to point it out. Outside of her head, Katherine made no sign that his comment had hit a nerve. No need for weakness.

Abruptly, Pitch changed subject, "Do you know why I'm here?"

Katherine shook her head, "No…"

"But you have an idea, correct?"

"Yes."

"Let's hear it then."

Taking a deep breath, Katherine began to explain her reasoning. "It's pretty common knowledge that you don't have any relatives, or children. And despite all attempts, the secret to immortality still hasn't been figured out. Scientist's have figured out how to increase immune systems for longer life-spans, but after about a hundred and twenty years, the body will start shutting down. Everyone in the seventh year and up learns this. So, if you want to keep from chaos ensuing after your…" here Katherine stopped, thinking that it would be best not to mention the inevitable fact that eventually everyone, including Pitch, would die, and decided to create a quick edit. "Retirement, you need an heir. And since you don't have any kids, your best bet would be to find a ward."

Pitch Black looked mildly impressed, while Mistress Turner was just staring. How in the world had the child figured out what was going on? "How do you know this child!?" She asked, half in shock.

Katherine shrugged, "I just listened during the World Social studies classes, and net-pictured Mr. Black when he came in to confirm." Katherine held out her wrist-port as confirmation.

The look on Mistress Turner's face was absolutely priceless. Unfortunately, it lasted for only three seconds. And Katherine's wrist-port wasn't a good thing to use to take embarrassing photos with.

Pulling herself together, Mistress Turner turned over to Pitch. "So, do think you'll be willing to adopt her?"

Looking straight at her, Pitch nodded, "Yes, I think that she's who I've been looking for."

And if the small smile he wore, and Katherine couldn't see, seemed oddly sinister to her, Turner never mentioned it.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh wow, this took a while to get out. I'm so sorry guys, I've been busy with life, (meh), and got distracted. I am going to be traveling next week, going out to Kansas City to see my new baby cousin, so I'll either write a ton on my computer before I leave, or leave you all hanging for about two weeks and return with handwritten stories to copy. Probably a mix of the two. And I currently have my baby sister climbing on me while I type. And now she's hanging on the back of the chair. Joy. Excuse me. Also, pay attention to the fact that Pitch said that Katherine is who he's been looking for, it's important.**


	3. Chapter II

Chapter II: The Outcome of The Dice's Landing's.

 _'This was not what I was expecting'_ was the one coherent thought that Katherine's brain formed in all of it's whirling incoherency. Out of all the children in the Orphanage, she was, well, not the _last_ person she would have expected to be adopted, but she was nowhere near the top of the list. When Pitch and Mistress Turner had come into her room she, had thought that Turner was merely going down the line of presentable children. _Not_ that she was actually going to be adopted. ' _It makes no sense, why an older child? Younger children are easier to…(prepare? Yeah, prepare is the best word for it.) for the world of politics and company-running. Especially for Black Industries. If not a younger child, why not one of the more business-minded kids, like Sascha or Tall William. (Tall William's the William who's going to try to get into business right? Yeah, that's right, he's the oldest of all the dozens of Williams so it's him who's interested in business.) (Why are there so many Williams anyway? Is it some sort of famous Old-World name?)_

While her brain was whirling, Katherine's body was busy packing up her sparse belongings. Best clothes, random things she had bought with the credits she'd earned, her sparse music collection, all of her notebooks from Year 1 on to those she hadn't even opened yet, pens, pencils, colored pencils, everything she wouldn't to leave behind, and all of it packed with her body on auto-pilot.

Until she hit her baby blanket.

Most of the baby blankets in the orphanage were actually owned by the orphanage, and therefore used for baby after baby until they were threadbare. But this blanket was, technically, Katherine's, and so had been left in her possession. Plus, it wasn't exactly soft.

She hesitated at putting it in. Would her guardian thinking she was too childish to handle being his heir? Would he make her throw it away?

 _No, he won't,_ she thought, _because he won't find it._ Unfolding it, she put it to the side. Then, grabbing her yellow coat, she cut a slit in the faux-fur lining, fed in the blanket slowly, and stitched it back up. Luckily, the double fur layer would hide the bulge.

Pulling on her coat and boots she tapped the 'Send' button on her wrist-port.

There was no going back.

Walking out of the orphanage, Katherine froze three feet from the curb. In front of her was a hover-craft. And an expensive one from the looks of it.

The back door opened, and out stepped a woman with dark hair and smile that never touched her eyes. "So, you're the girl."

Unfreezing at the fact that according to this woman she was barely of any importance, Katherine replied with an icy, "Yes, yes I am. And you are?"

Smirking, the woman replied, with an equally cold tone, "I am Onyx, Master Pitch's personal assistant. And apparently the only person he trusts to retrieve his ward."

Stepping aside, Onyx held open the hovers door before making a flourishing gesture towards the inside, bowing slightly in a mocking manner. Holding her tongue, Katherine stepped inside, unable to keep from inhaling sharply at the sheer, (and without a doubt expensive), elegance of the hover. Plush velvet seats and thick rug on the floor, combined with a holographic net-port outlet for each seat that undoubtedly had multiple comfort settings and entertainment.

 _If Pitch wants to impress me, he's definitely on the right track,_ Katherine mused, settling down on the seat in the middle and to the left of the door when you entered. Immediately, the holograph outlet flickered to life, and started to connect to Katherine's wrist-port before Onyx, who had slipped into her seat and shut the door while Katherine was distracted by the h-port, said loudly, "Stop," making Katherine jump before she realized Onyx was talking to the h-port.

Smirking slightly, Onyx continued to speak to the h-port, putting her own back as she did so, "Cancel connection, Authority Alpha. Reconnect at Nightshade."

Looking up from Katherine's h-port, she held her open hand towards Katherine, "Your left wrist please."

Puzzled slightly, Katherine hesitantly put her wrist into Onyx's hand. Bringing her own wrist up, Onyx began to activate the release/shut-down-for-info/data-transfer mechanism of Katherine's wrist-port when it stopped, an empty female voice stating: "Authorization of port removal for model replacement requested. Current owner beneath adult age and requires second authorization by an of-age citizen."

Speaking clearly, Onyx stated: "Onyx Anania, Citizen level 2, acting as adult authorization for Katherine." Looking at Katherine, she said, "State your name, rank, and authorization to the port. Tell it that you're the owner as well."

Speaking clearly, Katherine said: "Katherine, owner of this wrist-port, Citizen level 5, minor authorization."

With a beep and a green light, the wrist-port clicked open, sliding off Katherine's wrist and into Onyx's palm. Taking one end of the port, Onyx produced a second, newer, and sleeker model. Rubbing her newly bare wrist, Katherine watched in fascination as Onyx threaded the old port's end into the new port's opposing end, clicking them together like puzzle pieces. Instantly, the new port turned on and began to download all of the data from the original model. Approximately 37.5 seconds later, the new model dinged and turned on fully, and began to request Katherine's fingerprints.

Onyx nodded when Katherine looked at her, so she began to place her fingers on to the screen one by one. When she had finished, Onyx took the port back, tapped at it for a few minutes, and then disconnected it from the old port, setting that one aside in a small cupboard built into the door, before taking the remaining wrist-port and wrapping it around Katherine's wrist.

"Open it." Onyx said, in a tone that was not an order, but not something to ignore.

Katherine opened it.

Instead of opening to the default menu, like it was supposed to, it instead opened to a virtual-document.

"This document will finalize your adoption, entitling you to Black Industries in the future, and a level 2 citizenship, with all it's perks, now." Onyx held a digi-pen. "Plus, there's the fact that there is a huge allowance that you have access to, if that."

Katherine took the pen, but hesitated before signing her name. Was this really what she wanted. ' _Maybe it isn't,_ ' She thought, ' _But it's happened, and I won't get a chance like this again.'_ She signed her name.

"Nightshade." Onyx stated clearly, restarting the connection between the car and Katherine's wrist-port. This time however, the connection was between the new model and the car.

"Get comfortable, the hover ride is going to take a couple hours. And please, leave me be. I have work to do." Onyx said, raising the opaque separation screen between them.

Katherine blinked. She hadn't even realized the hover had started.

* * *

Onyx leaned back into her seat, her hand tapping at the h-port almost unconsciously. Without really thinking about it, she had pulled up her usual comfort settings for the hover ride. She frowned at the screen for a minute, before deciding to go ahead and activate the seats massage feature. It had been a stressful day.

She only gave herself a couple of minutes of relaxing before she paused the massage. Her day wasn't over yet.

Checking that the other passenger was sufficiently distracted, Onyx scrolled through her video message contacts, pausing on a seemingly normal contact. Taking a deep breath and unconsciously shrugging her shoulders, Onyx tapped the 'Request Message' button.

In less than a minute, it was accepted, and a new window was pulled up.

"Master," Onyx said, bowing her head slightly, knowing that even if the girl were to look at her silhouette through the screen, she'd only seeing Onyx leaning closer to her h-port.

"Onyx," Pitch said, silky voice gliding out of the speakers, "How does it go?"

"It goes well, Master. The girl has signed the document, and her old wrist-port has been replaced." Here Onyx smirked a bit. "Apparently, she is a fan of the popular Net series, RWBY."

"Excellent, I take it that her Net history has been downloaded as well?"

"Along with the port's off-line history."

"Well done. Did you sense anything off her?"

"Yes Master. It is definitely her. Every test rang true."

"Well done. Enjoy the ride." And with that, the window went black.

Onyx closed it and sighed. She had done her job. Now she could get back to that massage.

* * *

 **A/N: And the Plot thickens. Get your feels prepped for a KathLight Story, loves, 'cause we're almost there. I'm back from my trip, which was eventful, to say the least. If you guys have read the script for RotG, you'll probably have a good idea who Onyx is.**


End file.
